The present invention pertains to the field of and more particularly an interactive to cosmetic body powder selection system having a point of sale dispenser.
The cosmetic industry offers consumer cosmetic applications in many forms, such as for the nail polishes, creams, powders, other makeup, and combinations thereof. Many of these are offered in a large but finite selection of colors, hues, shades, tints, or other effects or additives.
In the typical scenario, these products are pre-packaged according to a predetermined fixed amount of different colors or effects. The products are then ordinarily displayed to reveal a limited number of points on a discontinuous spectrum of colors or effects. Consequently, the choices of color, effects, or both will be limited by the available stock at the point of sale, and also particularly by the specific colors and effects chosen for sale in advance by the manufacturer. The consumer is hardly afforded an opportunity if any to custom blend a color selection.
This has become particularly apparent in the line of body powders commonly used by individuals for cosmetic or limited medicinal purposes. Examples of such body powders may come in many forms, such as blush, face powder, foundation, cheek powder, eye shadow or the like. The body powders may also encompass customized medicated powder, foot powder or other types of powder used for medicinal purposes or any of the precious powder with medicinal additives.
In recent years, it has also become popular to modify the ultimate visual appearance of the skin by the addition of effects over some or all of the body, such as a metallic effect, sparkles, shapes (e.g., hearts, stars, etc.), texture or the like.
Frequently, these must be purchased and applied separately from an underlying base cosmetic. Once again, the consumer is faced with a finite selection and will be limited in choice by availability at the point of sale.
In view of the foregoing, a need has developed for a custom cosmetic color selection system, pursuant to which a consumer or other-customer (such as an intermediate retailer or wholesaler) can interact with the supplier to select a specific color, effect or both, to blend the resulting cosmetic product at or near the time of selection (e.g. on site at a point of sale location, or remotely such as by mail order, phone order or internet purchase).
An example of one such custom cosmetic color selection system is found in copending commonly owned U.S. patent application Ser. Nos. 09/818,077, filed Mar. 27, 2001; 09/818,389, filed Mar. 27, 2001; and PCT Application Serial No. PCT/US01/09777, filed Mar. 27, 2001, hereby incorporated by reference for all purposes.
To date, cosmetic powders typically are sold as units pre-packaged at a remote packaging facility. Increasingly, there also has been a need for dispensing of cosmetics at the point of purchase, in order to improve, for instance, inventory control, product freshness and product selection, as well as to improve customer, interaction and development of product loyalty.
The present invention meets the foregoing need by providing a system, particularly one employed at a point of sale, for the custom selection, design, blending, mixing or packaging of a body powder, and more particularly a cosmetic powder color, effect or both. The present invention includes one or a combination of components that facilitate a customer-interactive process of custom cosmetic selection, dispensing or both. Though applicable to the selection and preparation of cosmetics other than cosmetic powder (such as, lip gloss, eye gel, cheek gel, creams, lotions, nail polish, perfumes or the like), the present invention is illustrated by reference to one example of a system for customizing a cosmetic powder.
Pursuant to such example, the system includes a cosmetic powder dispenser that contains a plurality of different shades, tints or hues of colors or pigments, which can be dispensed in preselected proportions to create a custom color selection, afford point of purchase dispensing, or both. A user-interactive system is provided at a point-of-sale for allowing a user to custom choose or dispense a color, effect, or both. Information about the selection is employed for dispensing to the appropriate proportions of ingredients. Preferably the ingredients are dispensed manually into a powder canister having an integrated brush in fluid communication with the canister. In another embodiment, the system is automated.